Category Navigation:
Devil May Cry
Text Review
Not many game systems have such great and diverse game libraries as the PlayStation 2, but just like any other game system, it took a while for the games that truly showcased the systems’ capabilities to appear. Devil May Cry is not only one of the first titles that truly showed the power of the PS2, but it's also the game that set the standards for, and arguably created, the modern hack 'n slash genre.
The game stars half human/half demon monster hunter Dante who together with the mysterious woman Trish travels to a castle on the isolated Mallet Island to find the demon lord that's responsible for the death of Dante's family. There's not all that much story in the game, but what's there is pretty fun to follow and, in typical Capcom fashion, the voice acting is cheesy but at the same time very likable.
The first two words that come to mind when I think of Devil May Cry are style and difficulty. This was the first game where how you killed your enemy was almost as important as the fact that you killed them. It's possible to just button mash and hope for the best, but if you take the time to kill the enemies with stylish moves and keep the hit combo going you will be rewarded with more red orbs, which is the currency you use to upgrade your weapons and buy support items. Believe me when I say you will need as many of these as you can possibly get.
Devil May Cry is extremely hard; the enemies will usually attack you in groups from every direction and even early in the game they can take away almost a third of your life bar in a single hit. Luckily, you have a nice supply of groovy weapons to deal with the problem. You always carry both a hand to hand and a ranged weapon, and you can even temporarily turn into a powerful demon to devastate your enemies.
As great and intuitive as the combat was, and still is, there are a few things that have not aged very well. The camera often gets awkward and seems to prioritize showing things from a more dramatic angle than a practical one. This can become very annoying in larger fights, especially during some of the boss battles. But the worst thing by far is that you don't have any good way to defend yourself. You can't block enemy attacks, so the only thing you can do is either jump away or roll to the sides. This may not sound too bad; in more recent games in the genre like God Hand or God of War, you can roll away from enemy attacks with a simple press of the right analog stick in the desired direction, but that's unfortunately not how it works here. To perform an evasive roll in this game, you will need to first hold down the R1 button and then press the square button plus a direction on the analog stick with the right timing. Having to do this with only a split seconds reaction time can be extremely frustrating.
The game is divided up into small levels, each with a specific objective to complete. Even so, there's actually a fair amount of exploration in the game. There are lots of hidden items to find spread out over the levels, and there are even a few hidden bonus missions which are even harder than the rest of the game.
When it first came out in 2001, there were few games that could compete with the graphics of Devil May Cry. The levels are huge and very detailed, and the fights are filled with flashy effects. Now, of course, you can't compare the visuals to games released today, but for a 3D game that's almost ten years old, the graphics hold up surprisingly well.
Even though there are many more games to chose from in the genre today, the original Devil May Cry is still one of the best, and it's a must buy for anyone who's up for a challenging, but awesome piece of gaming history.
- Christian Ljungqvist
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Platform(s): PS2
The game stars half human/half demon monster hunter Dante who together with the mysterious woman Trish travels to a castle on the isolated Mallet Island to find the demon lord that's responsible for the death of Dante's family. There's not all that much story in the game, but what's there is pretty fun to follow and, in typical Capcom fashion, the voice acting is cheesy but at the same time very likable.
The first two words that come to mind when I think of Devil May Cry are style and difficulty. This was the first game where how you killed your enemy was almost as important as the fact that you killed them. It's possible to just button mash and hope for the best, but if you take the time to kill the enemies with stylish moves and keep the hit combo going you will be rewarded with more red orbs, which is the currency you use to upgrade your weapons and buy support items. Believe me when I say you will need as many of these as you can possibly get.
Devil May Cry is extremely hard; the enemies will usually attack you in groups from every direction and even early in the game they can take away almost a third of your life bar in a single hit. Luckily, you have a nice supply of groovy weapons to deal with the problem. You always carry both a hand to hand and a ranged weapon, and you can even temporarily turn into a powerful demon to devastate your enemies.
As great and intuitive as the combat was, and still is, there are a few things that have not aged very well. The camera often gets awkward and seems to prioritize showing things from a more dramatic angle than a practical one. This can become very annoying in larger fights, especially during some of the boss battles. But the worst thing by far is that you don't have any good way to defend yourself. You can't block enemy attacks, so the only thing you can do is either jump away or roll to the sides. This may not sound too bad; in more recent games in the genre like God Hand or God of War, you can roll away from enemy attacks with a simple press of the right analog stick in the desired direction, but that's unfortunately not how it works here. To perform an evasive roll in this game, you will need to first hold down the R1 button and then press the square button plus a direction on the analog stick with the right timing. Having to do this with only a split seconds reaction time can be extremely frustrating.
The game is divided up into small levels, each with a specific objective to complete. Even so, there's actually a fair amount of exploration in the game. There are lots of hidden items to find spread out over the levels, and there are even a few hidden bonus missions which are even harder than the rest of the game.
When it first came out in 2001, there were few games that could compete with the graphics of Devil May Cry. The levels are huge and very detailed, and the fights are filled with flashy effects. Now, of course, you can't compare the visuals to games released today, but for a 3D game that's almost ten years old, the graphics hold up surprisingly well.
Even though there are many more games to chose from in the genre today, the original Devil May Cry is still one of the best, and it's a must buy for anyone who's up for a challenging, but awesome piece of gaming history.
- Christian Ljungqvist
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Platform(s): PS2
So RAD it hurts!
Sign up now! - CGR Forums
Follow CGR on Twitter - TWITTER
Writers! - Click here
eBay links! Help support Classic Game Room by buying your classic games and hardware through eBay links on our site! Every game and accessory is linked to eBay, shop ahoy!